When analyzing the history of the modern dance movement, one simply cannot disregard the fundamental impact that German dancer and choreography Mary Wigman has had on the revolutionary art form throughout the twentieth century. Although she did not begin her career as a performer but rather an instructor at her sister Elizabeth’s school of dance, Wigman eventually rose to fame and recognition for inventing many of the most creative and groundbreaking facets of modern dance. Wigman’s work was key in the development of the German concept of freie Tanz (or free dance), a form that contrasted starkly to ballet, the classic tradition of dance as a performing art.
Wigman was born in Hanover, Germany, on November 13, 1886. She did not begin studying dance until later in life, compared with other dancers, and she was inspired to learn more about the art form when she witness students of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze who were working with eurhythmics, Dalcroze’s own system of movements. Wigman then enrolled in Dalcroze’s school in 1911, however she felt her expression was limited by his methods. In 1913, she began studying with Rudolf von Laban, whose technique emphasized contrasts of movements, such as contraction and expansion. Wigman served as Laban’s assistant during the years of the First World War. After leaving the Laban school, she went to the Swiss mountains where she initiated her own personal style of dance, which was rooted in expression.
Expressionism had been a trend in the realm of art in Germany, and it allowed artists to convey their feelings about the tragedy and desolation that surrounded them during the First World War. In 1920, she opened a school of dance in Dresden to teach dance as she thought it ought to be: an expression of the inspirations and passions of the human being. She also formed a dance troupe which toured internationally, starting in 1923. To attest Wigman’s influence, she was officially recognized for her success by the German government in the 1930’s. However, at the beginning of World War II, the Nazi government viewed Wigman as a leftist and considered her choreography impure, and closed down her school. The government also required her to fire all Jewish dancers from her school. Wigman taught in Leipzig until 1949, and then in West Berlin until her death in 1973. Her audiences never failed to identify the vitality in Wigman’s performances and choreography.
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Wigman established herself as a unique and innovative artist within the realm of modern dance as early as the beginning of her career. She was unique in several ways, one of them being that she was an example of a new type of artist, as she choreographed for her own solo performances. Wigman also used minimal stage scenery, and constructed her compositions through improvisation, rather than with definite choreographed movements. Instead of creating her work with a piece of music to guide her vision, she discovered her own rhythms of a piece, and incorporated very little musical accompaniment later. Additionally, one of Wigman’s more famous contributions to modern dance practice was her breathing exercises. She wanted to strongly emphasize the idea of dynamics, and focused on inhaling and exhaling, and building up and releasing tension. Her philosophy, in modern dance, was to make the observe concentrate on what she referred to as the “essence of dance.”
Throughout the course of her career as a modern dancer and choreographer, Mary Wigman became one of the most iconic figures of Weimar German culture and her work has been praised for bringing a sense of profound existentialism to the stage. The efforts of Wigman have truly shaped the history of the modern dance, and the way she rejected the conformity of classical dance still serves as inspiration in the modern dance that exists today.
